Group of lawmakers asking local support to reform state’s constitution

NORWICH – A group of lawmakers are asking local municipalities to support a bill that would allow voters in 2010 to decide if the state’s constitution should be overhauled.

The “People’s Convention to Reform New York Act” suggests that a Constitutional Convention be held to change “how the state does business” and address setting limits on state taxes, caps on spending and restrictions on unfunded mandates.

Introduced last month by Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua), the bill would prevent elected officials and lobbyists from being delegates and having a hand in the reform.

“We’ve needed this kind of reform at the state level for years,” said Assemblyman Cliff Crouch (R-Guilford), one of the bill’s sponsors. “A few years ago we finally got some budget reform. Then we went backwards. Now we’re back to three men in a room making all the decisions with little or no input from anyone else.”